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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Last October, my younger sister & I escaped for a few days to this vibrant, full of life & vey eclectic city! We did a little bit of relaxing, sightseeing, mixed in w/a little bit of work….it was perfect!

This was my first time ever seeing the Golden Gate bridge! It was awesome…. to add to the "awesomeness" I was able to watch this artist doing her "thing"

I also spied a foxy lady =^.^=

I could seriously stroll around this city for hours & hours…..and that we did! The image above to the left is just outside "La Boulange" & to the upper right is this yummy scented herb shop in China town!

This man above, intrigued me…. I probably took about a dozen shots of him, I'm thinking he was on break, I almost asked him, but I thought he might think it would be strange….but thinking about it some more, I was in SF! Pretty much anything goes, I should have asked, I love hearing people's "story"!

One of the things that surprised me the most about our little weekend was how much I really LOVED China Town! The people were so kind, the streets were so colorful & fun, the food was SOOOOO YUMMY! I STILL crave the lunch we had in China Town, it was the best Chinese food I have ever had!******gotta love my portrait up above:) It gives me that "soft focus" look:) Taken by my little sister:)

l.o.v.e.d. China Town!

China Town is FULL of amazing Venetian glass chandeliers…MY favorite ever! So many beautiful stores, just glittering w/beauty & light!

Look @ what I spotted again:) That foxy lady =^.^= She was everywhere I went!

Anytime I go away I love to get a piece of jewelry, nothing pricey, just something "local" This place, JUNO is a MUST visit if you are in SF! They have 2 stores, one in China Town, one in Union Square. I met one of the owners, & creators of each unique piece of jewelry, I LOVED that these were handcrafted right there in SF! So much talent, such beautiful pieces of art…I was able to get several images of his store, & displays, chat w/one of the artist/owner & of course brought home a very pretty pair of earrings….next I go back to SF I am getting the necklace that goes w/it!

lower left image…those chandelier earrings….mine…all mine….one of a kind mine:)

You can't visit San Francisco for more than a day & not walk the streets of Haight/Ashbury! I suppose because I am a hippie chick @ heart (minus the fluffy drugs!) I love window shopping there, trying the local chai tea (best decaf vanilla chai tea EVER) going into some really chill shops…& soaking in all the diversity of being in a city!

Here is where I met my friend Catherine. A homeless woman, maybe in her late 50's She captured my heart, there was something just different about Catherine. We stopped & chatted w/her for a bit, she told me her brief life story, asked me if she could come back home w/me, she told me she would love to work for me….it broke my heart, I am a softy, but not a pushover…I have my "views" on the homeless, & w/those views there is a soft place in my soul for them. Catherine left me broken for a few hours, I thought about her a lot the rest of my time in SF….in fact I think about Catherine often still….I wonder if she's ok, if she's warm, is she hungry…..did she find help…I feel like I will see Catherine again…maybe not in this life, maybe in the next…she left me thinking.

Our next little venture was to visit my favorite printable instagram pix! I found these guys on insta about a year & 1/2 ago I have ordered around 200 of my insta pix from them, & I love them!

So since I follow them on insta, I remembered knowing that one of the cofounders of "Social Print Studio" moved his office & home to the city, & so I "insta'd" them saying I would love to check out their workspace, get some brilliant photos of his crew @ work & of course of their pad….they said "come on down"! & that we did! So glad we did!

What a cool environment to work in, create in, grow in for these young guys!

When you have questions…..these guys above are the ones talking to you! I loved watching them do their thing, play, work, & have fun while being productive & creating!

This GIANT head was given to them as a gift! I didn't get a chance to meet the man himself (the other cofounder) but I hear this is a very good replica….just a tad larger than real life:)

Gotta love 20 something year old's way of making coffee….or maybe that's tea? Creative or sure!

I loved their view…..they have AMAZING windows….which of course gives AMAZING light for beautiful images!

They've got this little band room going on….way rad. A little afternoon concert in the city...

What can I say about these two shots…..I am absolutely in love w/the soft light glowing in….I am so not a "studio" photographer….but if I did have a studio, it would have magic light like this coming in!

Well well……that foxy lady showed up in the studio too!

Artwork all around on their walls…..some are in forms of prints in frames….other in heads!

These guys know how to have fun…..some of the minds & talent behind "Social Print Studio"

This shot below has to be my favorite one of the day! If you know me, you know I love catching light, & this is perfect light….l.o.v.e Thank you "Social Print Studio" for inviting me to come over, invade your space & inspire me! You guys rock!

So I heard that there was a really cool spanish area in SF & so we hopped in a taxi (he was a bit strange, but life is an adventure so we took our chance lol)

We were told to stay between certain streets, for our safety, & of course we did, what a cool place to check out! Lot's of good food….although we didn't pick the best place to eat, it was still fun!

This handsome doggy & I had a "moment" he looked @ me, I @ him….he was so cute!

Love finding wall art in random places!

This spot was filled w/places to eat & some very cool old bookstores….very charming.

Ok now…chocolate is good….but chocolate & homemade marshmallows @ this local shop was A~MAZING! I wish I could remember what it was called! The air smelled like chocolate heaven as you walked in the door, it was packed, & it was good! & did I mention the marshmallows?!?! Oh my GOSH! They melted in your mouth! I wanted to buy a giant bag to take home, but they didn't sell them! They should sell them! They were sooooo yummy!

Yep…that's me…. being a paparazzi…doing my thing:)

Can't get enough of the color & vibe happening in and around San Francisco!

Fall w/blooming color? Yep….that's right! Beautiful!

One of my favorite things to photograph has always been alley ways….it's so fun for me to peak & catch images of parked bikes, whether I'm in Italy, or California…it's always a pretty shot.

Part of my San Francisco trip was meeting & photographing this pretty duo…A mother & her daughter. How fun is that to have beautiful photos to remember your getaway!

& how lucky am I to be able to do that!

We met on a chili Saturday morning, we had beautiful light, & excitement in the air of being in a fun City!

love

I think these ladies had a nice quick getaway, they did quite a bit in just over 24 hours, & they have a morning of photos to treasure for always & forever:)

Soooooo this was something I didn't expect to see! On the last Friday of each month, there is this organized bike rally happening! We were there in October, right before Halloween, so the theme for this little bike rally was of course "Halloween"! & you can ONLY IMAGINE some of the costumes (& lack OF costumes) that rode by us for about 20 minutes! It was something I will not forget!

We saw it all……literally………..

There was THOUSANDS & THOUSANDS of people riding their bikes…it was actually really cool. IDK if I would love it so much if I lived there, but as a visitor, it was cool!

So…..this is it. My SF trip. work.play.work& PLAY! it was a blast. I am getting ready to launch a personal project I created…details are in the "works" but SF is where my ideas for the project came flooding to me. SF is what got my creative juices flowing. It's a great place to be to creative, to explore & to enjoy.

I will always have a little piece of my heart in San Francisco. & will be back for more soon. Real soon!